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Mavs shoot for NBA Finals berth against Thunder

May 25, 2011 - 2:31 PM (Sports Network) - A colossal collapse has the Thunder slowing to a low rumble as Oklahoma City visits Dallas for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

Dirk Nowitzki put the Mavericks on his back late in regulation on Monday, forcing overtime in Game 4 where Jason Kidd hit a go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute as the Mavs stole a 112-105 decision for a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Thunder.

OKC coughed up a 15-point lead with under five minutes to go as Nowitzki scored 12 of his game-high 40 points during a regulation-ending 17-2 flurry, stunning the home crowd and putting the Mavs on the brink of their first NBA Finals appearance since 2006.

"I can't remember another comeback like that. It didn't look great there, but our defense was unbelievable down the stretch," Nowitzki said. "Once we got to OT, we had to feel good about ourselves."

Kidd totaled 17 points and seven helpers, while Jason Terry scored 20 points off the Dallas bench.

Kevin Durant ended with 29 points but failed to score in the final 10 minutes and had nine of the Thunder's 26 turnovers.

"This is a very difficult loss. We have to take it like [men] and move on," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said.

A balanced attack allowed the Mavs to win Game 3, 93-87, but they needed their German superstar to come to the rescue Monday. The Thunder, who had not lost back-to-back games in the postseason, controlled most of the contest and led 99-84 following a Durant three-pointer with 5:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. It proved to be the league's leading scorer's final bucket.

After whittling down the massive deficit, Kidd and Nowitzki played a two-man game at the top of the key in the waning seconds, and Nick Collison grabbed the Dirk coming off a pick-and-roll and was whistled for a foul. Nowitzki calmly made both freebies to tie things with 6.4 seconds left.

Durant rushed a deep try 10 feet beyond the arc and was cleanly blocked by Shawn Marion.

"I caught the ball at halfcourt, saw three Mavericks in front of me and I had nothing else to do," a clearly distraught Durant said after the game. "I didn't want to run into their defense. I didn't know what else to do."

In the extra frame with the game deadlocked at 105, Kidd forced a Durant turnover to give the ball back to Dallas before Nowitzki penetrated to draw two defenders and kicked it back out to Kidd, who got open with a pump fake and drained a big three with 40.3 ticks showing.

"I was going to make a play on the elbow against Collison, but once I turned, [Russell] Westbrook was right there and I swung it out to Kidd," recalled Nowitzki. "He pump faked, got his balance and made a big three for us."

Westbrook missed a runner at the other end, and Terry essentially sealed the comeback with two free throws, ending the hard-fought comeback in front of a suddenly silent Oklahoma City Arena.

The enormity of the comeback was immense. In the last 10 NBA seasons, teams have trailed by 15-plus points in the last five minutes of a contest 4,970 times and the Mavs became the only team to overcome it on Monday night.

Durant missed his final six shots and was inconsolable afterwards, not even talking with his mom or grandmother. Tuesday, the Thunder superstar was still feeling the weight of lost opportunity.

"It's a bad feeling, but we've got faith," Durant said. "I'm just going to lay it all on the line."

Only eight teams have overcome a 3-1 deficit in NBA playoff history and just two of those, the 1968 Boston Celtics and the '95 Houston Rockets, did it by winning twice on the road, which Oklahoma City must do.

"We can still make it a series," said Brooks, a backup point guard on the '95 Rockets team. "It's always about being mentally ready for the challenge, because it is a challenge. There's no question we have a big challenge but it's a challenge that our guys will embrace."

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle gave both Nowitzki and Kidd the day off Tuesday as the Mavericks prepare to try to close things out in north Texas.

"I know that [the Thunder] are going to come in tomorrow and they're going to come back at us hard, as they've done every game," Carlisle said. "We'll have to play our best game to close them out. We've got to be careful about getting away with how happy we are."

Dallas won two of three over Oklahoma City in the regular season. Interestingly, the Mavs won both games in OKC while the Thunder took the lone contest in north Texas. Nowitzki, however, didn't play in the Thunder win.

The teams have met just twice in the postseason when OKC was based in Seattle but haven't squared off since 1987. In 1984, Dallas took a first round set while the Sonic returned the favor in '87.

Game 6 of the series, if necessary, shifts back to Oklahoma City on Friday.